Ali Waldon’s fight extends off the volleyball court

TAMPA, Fla. — Like any fine-tuned athlete, Ali Waldon pays attention to the little details. 

She knows which one of her two ports the nurse should draw blood from. She knows what medication she’s had and which ones she needs. Waldon’s been poked and prodded so often, she’s lost count.

“Sometimes it’s multiple pricks a day,” Waldon said.

There is a method to this madness.

And a reason she must endure getting stuck with needles so often. Waldon has cancer. And she is battling this hideous disease the same way she battles on the volleyball court. Persistent hip pain turned out to be osteosarcoma. And with that cancer diagnosis in September, Waldon, and her family’s world was turned upside down.

She had to leave school and her volleyball team at Mercer University to begin treatment. She’s had surgery. She’s had doses of chemotherapy. She’s lost her hair and her eyebrows. But she hasn’t lost her drive.

“You do what you have to do to do,” she said. “Not without complaints, kind of.”

That’s the attitude of an athlete. Ali starred on the volleyball court at Clearwater Central Catholic where she helped the Marauders win a state championship in 2022. She took her talents to Mercer where she made an immediate impact for the Bears. When cancer sidelined her, Waldon’s teammates rallied around her.

But it’s Waldon who has rallied and set the tone.

“She’s handled this better than probably most adults would,” her mother Julie Rodgers said. “And has always had just a really positive attitude and just a light through all of it.”

Cancer’s shown Waldon how independent she is. It’s also shown how resilient and what a fighter she is. Ali knew she was tough. Now she’s showing cancer just how tough.

“I have a greater appreciation for all the nurses and doctors that have helped me,” she said. “I try to be an easy patient and just make their day a little bit better.”